Race Car Live 2010

Sunday 21st November I will be visiting Race Car Live at Brands Hatch with my Car. I will be involved in a demonstration in the afternoon where I will be driving with other Championship winners from this years R300, Supersports and Roadsports B Classes.

I will be set off from the Pit Lane ahead of the other cars within the 7 minute demonstration session. As faster cars, they will catch me up near to the end of the session at the chequered flag.

This demonstration will take place in front of hundreds of visitors who will get to see the different speeds that the cars run at.

See you there!

http://www.racecarlive.com/

Croft Winter Race

On 9th/10th October I competed in a non championship round at the fantastic Croft race circuit in North Yorkshire. Whilst it was a non-championship round, the only entrants permitted were the drivers from either of the two Caterham Academy groups. This meant that it was the first time that I would have the opportunity to race against those in the other group.

The weekend included a 20-minute qualifying session and 20-minute race on Saturday, and a further 20 minute race on Sunday.

Having never visited the circuit before, I only had the qualifying session to learn the circuit. I went out late in the qualifying session to get a free track and slowly my confidence grew. The car felt good and I finished on Pole, over 1.5seconds faster than my nearest competitor.

Race 1 was dry and the first lap was full of activity early on with cars tripping over each other to get the advantage. Behind me Chris Bingham and Joel Wymer were victims of their own late braking which helped me break free from the chasing pack. This enabled me to finish 1st, Mike Hart 2nd and Kurt Brady a very close 3rd.

Race 2 was a real fight, I started on Pole having won race 1 but, as always, I was suffering from very bad brakes, so much so that I even warned Mike Hart before the race who was starting in second, just in case I found it difficult to stop at the hairpin before the start finish straight.

I got a very good start and was followed very closely by Mike and Kurt for the first 5 laps. At the mid way point Kurt overtook me for 1st place, but then I pulled it back soon after. With the brakes still not improving I continued to suffer where Mike pushed me down to 3rd with one of his trademark lunges from nowhere, only for me to get it back again before the end of the lap. With one lap to go, Kurt had pulled out a secure lead where he finished 1st, me 2nd and Mike 3rd.

It was an excellent weekend with some very close racing. With about half of the competitors from this year expecting to stop racing based on previous years, there is likely to be only one grid in 2011. Those who have been at the sharp end are going to continue, so it looks like another great year of racing when we progress to Roadsport B.

Race win at Mallory and Champion!

The 7th and Final round of the Pistonheads 2010 Academy Championship was at Mallory Park.

After qualifying 2nd on the grid, only 0.022 seconds behind Merlin Edwards, I knew we would be in for an exciting final race. In fact, only 0.185 seconds separated the top four drivers and it was the tightest grid we have seen all year.

When the lights went out I managed to beat Merlin into the first corner but only after Blaize Rhodes made yet another superb start demoting me back to 2nd. The start of the race was frantic where 7 cars chased for the lead, which resulted in a number of light touches from the pack.

Mike Hart, one of the Championship contenders this year, defended his position from Matthew Waite into the hairpin, causing him to crash into the back of me. This unfortunately resulted in me being pushed forward into the back of Merlin Edwards resulting in minor damage to his car and substantial damage to my steering. Unfortunately this seemed to affect the cornering and performance of my car and I was unsure at the time if the damage was terminal. The corner after the incident was the first test but unfortunately it as also the fastest. With blind faith I threw the car into the corner and with some mid turn adjustment (which now continued throughout the rest of my driving) I continued to race.

It was a hard fought battle and the lead changed almost every lap. My race was not made any easier by rushing two gear changes, resulting in lost places where my competitors did well not to hit me.

After 12 laps it became a two horse race between Blaize and me where I managed to keep my cool and hold him off for the final 4 laps after he threw everything, including the kitchen sink, and a brief excursion across the grass to try and get past!

This last race gave me another 20 points towards the Championship where it was confirmed that I am the Group 1 Pistonheads Caterham Academy Champion for 2010 !!!!!!!!

The top 5 in this years Championship finished as follows;

Wesley Fox 120 points
Jon Mortimer 103 points
Merlin Edwards 102 points
Blaize Rhodes 101 points
Mike Hart 100 points

There are many people I want to thank for helping me achieve this. My wife Louise who has supported me 200% (as always), my father in law John MacDonald - who helped me build the championship winning car, Richard Grimes of Sidelines Automotive for his expert advice, support and supplies throughout the year and David Rowe of DPR Motorsport – who set the car up for the races, provided race day advice and race tuition.

The Racing Fox pit crew, who travelled the country on race days and track days, most notably Rod Germany and Martin Bielby who both made countless observations about competitors and myself at the events.

Mallory Timetable

Last race of the Pistonheads Caterham Academy 2010 season is on Sunday 19th September 2010.

Timetable for me is as follows.

10:25 Qualifying

14:00 Academy Group 1 Race

Mallory Test Day

Mallory Park test days are only on a Wednesday morning for cars, so there was little time to get it right. The test day on the 8th September only provided 3 x 30 minute sessions, which during a 56.00 second lap leaves little time to think about what you might be doing wrong. I kept the same setup from Brands Hatch and still suffered from under steer, which may require further adjustments on race day.

Whilst there is another test day available on 15th September before the race on Sunday 19th, I am unable to attend due to working commitments so what will be will be!

Whilst the circuit layout is relatively straightforward there are again key corners to get right with very few overtaking opportunities without a tow from another racer. The Tow at this circuit are very easy to get and this will make for a very interesting final event. It is also a circuit where you will need to lean on people to get passed and you are most likely to be either attacking or defending narrow lines with your competitors where the pack are likely to hunt together. Any small mistakes during the race could have quite a significant impact because there will be a train of drivers likely to pass together.

The competitive nature of the current Academy drivers and this particular track I feel make it very unlikely that someone will be lucky enough to break away from the pack.

Mixed reports on the weather this weekend will also provide what I hope as a very entertaining race for spectators.

Mallory test 8th September

I am testing tomorrow at Mallory in Leicester ahead of the final race on Sunday 19th September. It looks like the weather will be variable so hopefully I will get both wet and dry conditions in preparation for the race.

On the way home I will be going to see the guys at Caterham Midlands to pick up a replacement Oil pressure sender which failed at Brands Hatch.

Brands Hatch - Bitter Sweet Victory

Testing at Brands Hatch did not go well on Friday. I shared a Garage with Kurt Brady who is a strong contender in Group 2, who was really doing well.

Since my last visit to Brands Hatch they have resurfaced a large portion of the track, which seemed to drive completely differently. I suffered with under steer during the day and could not get the car to run true around most of the circuit. I decided to raise the back of the car which would normally rectify this but it only made slight improvements to my times during the day. I was about 0.3 seconds off the pace and with lap times expected of 57.10 seconds this would be a real issue during the race. I went home a little deflated that evening hoping that by studying my data and video footage I could find some way of improving my times. That evening David Rowe of DPR Motorsport asked how I got on and suggested making further changes to the car, some of which I had never considered beforehand.

Saturday afternoon I was back at Brands Hatch for qualifying. I decided to make the changes that David at DPR suggested because I couldn’t risk being mid pack for the start of the race. The changes I made gave me better steering and I qualified 3rd on the grid. This was very positive because it gave me the inside line into the first corner which I planned would give me both an aggressive and defensive opportunity. Mike Hart was again the one to beat with Merlin who qualified 2nd.

Race day I lowered the car back down which brought the adjustments back into line because some of the changes I made assumed it would be raining. I was also planning to purchase new tyres if the track was very wet, which as it turned out was not required.

The race started and I was demoted to 5th by the second corner due to Mike Hart holding a defensive position and both Jon Mortimer and Blaize Rhodes getting a flying start. I battled my way back from 5th to 2nd where I pursued Mike Hart in 1st following his incident with Merlin which proved to change the result at the end of the race.

I battled with Mike to gain first place and but my position at the front was short lived. Mike overtook me on the last lap into Druids, which later was adjudged to be an optimistic yet illegal pass.

Having finished a close second in the race, in fact less than two tenths behind Mike the Clerk of the course asked to see my video footage following his overtaking move. Unfortunately he was dealt with a very hard penalty by being excluded from the race, which promoted me to 1st. During the race however I did managed to set the fastest lap, which was also fast enough to break the lap recor by almost 0.4 of a second at 56.962 something I am very proud of.

This result puts me in 1st in the Championship with only one round to go, however the exclusion for Mike is somewhat of a bitter result for the good of the season. Whilst I do feel that Mike did not deserve to win, his punishment did not fit the crime.

The next race is on 19th September and it should be a great finale to the season.